A non-explosive punch system for making perforations in a casing includes a housing and one or more punch elements configured to extend through a wall of the housing to perforate a casing of the well. An actuating device is located within the housing and may comprise a piston and an actuator block configured to actuate the one or more punch elements. An energy supply device is also located within the housing and may comprise a valve to direct fluid flow and a piston configured to use a pressure of a well fluid present in the casing, to actuate the actuating device. No explosive material is present in the punch system.
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1. A non-explosive punch system for making perforations in a casing, the non-explosive punch system comprising:
a housing extending along a longitudinal axis and configured to be deployed in a well;
one or more punch elements configured to extend through a wall of the housing to perforate a casing of the well;
an actuating device comprising a piston located within the housing and configured to actuate the one or more punch elements; and
an energy supply device comprising a valve located within the housing and configured to selectively direct pressurized fluid to the piston,
wherein there is no explosive material.
19. A method for manufacturing a non-explosive punch system for making perforations in a casing, the method comprising:
providing a housing extending along a longitudinal axis and configured to be deployed in a well;
adding one or more punch elements to the housing, wherein the one or more punch elements are configured to extend through a wall of the housing to perforate a casing of the well;
installing within the housing an actuating device comprising a piston configured to actuate the one or more punch elements; and
fluidly connecting an energy supply device comprising a valve to a well fluid present in the casing and to the piston,
wherein there is no explosive material.
2. The punch system of
3. The punch system of
4. The punch system of
5. The punch system of
6. The punch system of
a double action enclosure that fluidly communicates with the energy supply device;
an actuating block configured to directly press on the one or more punch elements.
7. The punch system of
8. The punch system of
9. The punch system of
10. The punch system of
11. The punch system of
wherein the valve is fluidly connected at a first port with the oil chamber and fluidly connected at a second port with the air chamber,
wherein the actuating device further comprises a double action enclosure that fluidly communicates with the energy supply device and an actuating block configured to directly press on the one or more punch elements, and
wherein the actuating block is located within an actuation chamber, located within the housing, and the actuation chamber is sealed from the double action enclosure.
12. The punch system of
13. The punch system of
a first passage fluidly connecting the oil chamber to the first port; and
a second passage fluidly connecting the air chamber to the second port.
14. The punch system of
15. The punch system of
16. The punch system of
a double action enclosure that fluidly communicates with third and fourth ports of the valve; and
an actuating block configured to directly press on the one or more punch elements.
17. The punch system of
18. The punch system of
20. The method of
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Embodiments of the subject matter disclosed herein generally relate to a system and method for perforating the casing of a well, and more particularly, to a system that is capable of making perforations into a casing without using an explosive material.
In the oil and gas field, once a well is drilled to a desired depth relative to the surface, and the casing protecting the wellbore has been installed and cemented in place, it is time to connect the wellbore to the subterranean formation to extract the oil and/or gas. This process of connecting the wellbore to the subterranean formation may include a step of plugging a previously fractured stage of the well with a plug, a step of perforating a portion of the casing, which corresponds to a new stage, with a perforating gun string such that various channels are formed to connect the subterranean formation to the inside of the casing, a step of removing the perforating gun string, and a step of fracturing the various channels of the new stage. These steps are repeated until all the stages of the formation are fractured.
During the perforating step for a given stage, one or more perforating guns of the perforating gun string are used to create perforation clusters in the multistage well. Clusters are typically spaced along the length of a stage (a portion of the casing that is separated with plugs from the other portions of the casing), and each cluster comprises multiple perforations (or holes). Each cluster is intended to function as a point of contact between the wellbore and the formation. Each perforation is made by a corresponding shaped charge, which is located inside the housing of the perforating gun. The shaped charge includes an explosive material which when ignited, melts a lining of the shaped charge and generates a travelling melted jet. The travelling melted jet is projected outward from the shaped charge, to make a perforation into the housing of the perforating gun and then a perforation into the casing of the well, to establish the fluid communication between the oil formation outside the well and the bore of the casing.
After each stage is perforated, a slurry of proppant (sand) and liquid (water) is pumped into the stage at high rates and then, through the perforation holes, into the formation, with the intent of hydraulically fracturing the formation to increase the contact area between that stage and the formation. A typical design goal is for each of the clusters to take a proportional share of the slurry volume, and to generate effective fractures, or contact points, with the formation, so that the well produces a consistent amount of oil, cluster to cluster and stage to stage.
However, the current methods of creating the perforations (casing holes) with explosives raise issues of safety, regulatory aspects, and require high equipment costs. Mechanical means of punching a hole in the casing exist, but these approaches are slow because they require power from the surface. Thus, there is a need for a new system for making perforations into the casing without using explosives or power from the surface, but also being fast enough for the well applications.
According to an embodiment, there is a non-explosive punch system for making perforations in a casing. The non-explosive punch system includes a housing extending along a longitudinal axis and configured to be deployed in a well, one or more punch elements configured to extend through a wall of the housing to perforate a casing of the well, an actuating device located within the housing and configured to actuate the one or more punch elements, and an energy supply device located within the housing and configured to use a pressure of a well fluid present in the casing, to actuate the actuating device. There is no explosive material within the housing.
According to another embodiment, there is a method for manufacturing a non-explosive punch system for making perforations in a casing. The method includes providing a housing extending along a longitudinal axis and configured to be deployed in a well, adding one or more punch elements to the housing, wherein the one or more punch elements are configured to extend through a wall of the housing to perforate a casing of the well, installing an actuating device within the housing, the actuating device being configured to actuate the one or more punch elements, and fluidly connecting an energy supply device to a well fluid present in the casing and to the actuating device, to actuate the actuating device. There is no explosive material in the housing.
For a more complete understanding of the present invention, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
The following description of the embodiments refers to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers in different drawings identify the same or similar elements. The following detailed description does not limit the invention. Instead, the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims. The following embodiments are discussed, for simplicity, with regard to a single punch system that is used in a well for perforating the casing by not using energy from the surface. However, the embodiments to be discussed next are not limited to a single punch system, but may be applied to plural punch assemblies that are attached to each other.
Reference throughout the specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the subject matter disclosed. Thus, the appearance of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” in various places throughout the specification is not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, the particular features, structures or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.
According to an embodiment, a punch system uses exclusively a hydrostatic pressure present in the well for making perforations into the casing of the well. The punch system has a housing that hosts one or more punch elements configured to perforate the casing of a well. The one or more punch elements are actuated by an actuating device. The actuating device is supplied with energy for actuation by an energy supply device. The energy supply device harness the energy associated with the pressure of the well fluid in the casing and uses this energy to actuate the actuating device. No explosive charges and no power from the surface are used to actuate the punch element or to make the perforations.
More specifically, as shown in
To take advantage of this hydrostatic pressure P, a housing 112 of the punch system 100 hosts multiple devices that work together to generate a force that is used to puncture the casing. More specifically, the housing 112 hosts an energy supply device 118, an actuating device 140, and one or more punch elements 162. The energy supply device 118 transforms the hydrostatic pressure of the well fluid into a force that is supplied to the actuating device 140. The energy supply device 118 includes multiple chambers, for storing the well fluid 110, oil 114, and air 116. More specifically, the energy supply device 118 includes a hydrostatic chamber 120 that communicates through a passage 122 with the bore of the casing 106 so that the well fluid 110 can freely enter inside the hydrostatic chamber 120. The hydrostatic chamber 120 is separated from an oil chamber 126 by a floating piston 128. The floating piston 128 may include seals 129 to prevent the well fluid mixing with the oil and vice-versa. Note that the hydraulic chamber 120 has no other port for communicating with the ambient, except for the passage 122. The oil chamber 126 also has a single oil communication passage 132, extending through a wall of the casing 112. The oil passage 132 extends through a wall of the housing, from the oil chamber 126 to a valve assembly 134. The valve assembly 134, which is also part of the energy supply device 118, may include one 4-ways valve, or two 3-ways valves or four 2-ways valves or any other combination of valves. In one embodiment, the valve assembly includes solenoid valves. The valve assembly 134 schematically shows in
The energy supply device 118 further includes an air chamber 136, which is configured to initially hold the air 116 at atmospheric pressure. However, as the punch system 100 makes perforations into the casing, oil is slowly directed into the bottom of the air chamber 136, as schematically indicated in
On the other side of the valve assembly 134, there are two other communication passages that fluidly communicate corresponding third and fourth ports with the actuating device 140. A first communication passage 139 fluidly connects the third port of the valve assembly 134 to a first chamber 144 of a double action enclosure 146 (which is part of the actuating device 140), and a second communication passage 142 fluidly connects the fourth port of the valve assembly 134 to a second chamber 148 of the double action enclosure 146. The first chamber 144 is separated from the second chamber 148 by a double action piston 150. Seals 129 are provided around the double action piston 150 for preventing a fluid to move from the first chamber to the second chamber or vice versa. After the punch system 100 is used in the well, both the first and second chambers 144 and 148 include oil 114. The double action piston may be replaced with 2 pistons opposing each other.
The double action piston 150, which is part of the actuating device 140, is connected to an actuator block 152 (e.g., a wedge-shaped block, but other more complex shapes may be used) through a rod 154. The rod 154 extends through the second chamber 148 and enters into an actuation chamber 160, which is also part of the actuating device 140, where it is connected to the actuator block 152. Seals 129 are provided around the rod 154 for preventing the oil 114 from the second chamber to mix with the well fluid 110 that is present inside the actuation chamber 160. The actuator block 152 may contact one or more punch elements 162 that extend through a wall 113 of the housing 112, from the interior of the actuation chamber 160, into the bore of the casing 106, as illustrated in
More specifically,
Returning to
A method for using the punch system 100 is now discussed with regard to
When the valve assembly 134 is moved to the punching state, i.e., during the perforation step 508, as shown in
Next, the double action piston 152 is retrieved in step 510, to prepare the punch system for a next perforation. This means that in step 510 the processor 402 instructs the valve assembly 134 to return to the retrieved state shown in
After each punch is made in the casing, a volume of oil effectively moves from the oil chamber into the air chamber. The amount of oil depends on the piston 150's area and its stroke. The volumes of the air chamber and oil chamber are selected to be large enough so that many holes (e.g., 30+) can be punched in a single run of the punch system. Since a plug is installed at the bottom of each stage, there is an optimum number of holes to be punched per stage. This system is designed to supply at least this many holes per run. As the oil enters the air chamber, the air pressure increases. The air chamber needs to have a large enough volume so that the air pressure increase is not significant. After all of the holes are punched for a given stage, the punch system may be removed, i.e., drawn uphole by the wireline. The punctured stage may be frac-ed while the punch system is being reset for another run. This consists of moving the floating piston to its initial position and moving the oil from the air chamber into the oil chamber. Also, another plug is attached to the bottom of the assembly. At the surface, an external pump can be connected to the external ports 127 and 137 to drain the oil out of the air chamber, and return it to the oil chamber. The oil moving into the oil chamber would automatically move the floating piston 128 to its initial position. The number of holes that can be punched in each run is controlled by the volume of these chambers.
Returning to
In a different embodiment, as illustrated in
To prevent debris from the casing 106 to enter together with the well fluid 110 into the passage 810, a screen 820 may be placed at the inlet of the passage 810. All the features discussed above with regard to
A method for manufacturing a non-explosive punch system 100 for making perforations in a casing is now discussed with regard to
The disclosed embodiments provide a non-explosive casing perforation system that uses an existing hydrostatic pressure to punch holes into the casing. It should be understood that this description is not intended to limit the invention. On the contrary, the embodiments are intended to cover alternatives, modifications and equivalents, which are included in the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Further, in the detailed description of the embodiments, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a comprehensive understanding of the claimed invention. However, one skilled in the art would understand that various embodiments may be practiced without such specific details.
Although the features and elements of the present embodiments are described in the embodiments in particular combinations, each feature or element can be used alone without the other features and elements of the embodiments or in various combinations with or without other features and elements disclosed herein.
This written description uses examples of the subject matter disclosed to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the same, including making and using any devices or systems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scope of the subject matter is defined by the claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims.
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Apr 07 2023 | OIL STATES ENERGY SERVICES, L L C | Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | SECURITY INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 063270 | /0608 | |
Apr 07 2023 | Oil States Industries, Inc | Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | SECURITY INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 063270 | /0608 | |
Apr 07 2023 | GEODYNAMICS, INC | Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | SECURITY INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 063270 | /0608 |
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